update: my date to the office Christmas party is … a coworker by Alison Green on December 24, 2021 It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Remember the letter-writer who was nervous because their date to the office Christmas party was … a coworker (#3 at the link; first update here)? Here’s the update. Four years ago I wrote in because my date to the office Christmas party was a coworker (#3) and then I sent an update when the party and following days were drama free (#4). This is an update for a pretty low stakes question but I always love seeing other people’s updates. We are still together and have just had a baby! Shortly after I wrote initially, we got a little worried about both working for the same company if there was economic trouble, so we both started job searches. He found a new job and I stopped looking. Then his old team got laid off in the early days of Covid. Now we are feeling double grateful, both for surviving pandemic layoffs and having a charming new addition to our family. Happy holidays! You may also like:my boss was furious that I went to a work party after calling out sickwe can only bring our spouses to the holiday party if we have kidsour polyamorous employee wants to bring their 3 partners to the holiday party { 22 comments }
animaniactoo* December 24, 2021 at 1:02 pm Yay for you! Both in being proactive, and for having everything work out so well. Reading about this was a lovely Xmas present today.
Edwina* December 25, 2021 at 1:45 am Not just being proactive, but being procreative, too!! Congrats LW! Have a lovely Christmas!
Generic Elf* December 24, 2021 at 1:10 pm Awww! In my old company, there was a joke about adding certain *other* kinds of growth rates to the books – so many people met and started families there it was kinda cool. Congrats to you!
Artemesia* December 24, 2021 at 2:31 pm Wonderful!! And it is rare that people, even when they see the handwriting on the wall, act before the crisis erupts. You should be really proud of yourselves for having seen the risk of two employed the same place and diversified. One of the benefits of a two earner family is that when disaster strikes, you are likely to be more stable. I lost my job in a merger from a place that had literally been going strong for 200 years — because my husband had a job elsewhere we were fine — not happy about it all, but fine. You were really smart to look into the future and manage your risk level.
Sara without an H* December 24, 2021 at 2:36 pm I second this. Congratulations on thinking ahead and taking action before Life handed you a lemon. This is a rare quality. And congratulations, too, on the new baby. Here’s to a happy 2022!
Chili pepper Attitude* December 24, 2021 at 2:37 pm As the others said, so smart to be proactive! Thanks for sharing the update and congrats on the addition to the family.
Jacey* December 24, 2021 at 2:52 pm Aww, what a wonderful update! Good on you for taking reasonable precautions and I hope your family has a wonderful new year :)
AlyInSebby* December 24, 2021 at 5:22 pm Congratulations!! That’s absolutely brilliant. Thanks for keeping us updated, nice to be so happy for internet strangers. Happy & Merry
Jackalope* December 24, 2021 at 7:05 pm Congratulations on both your relationship and the new baby! Hope everything continues to go well!
Candi* December 24, 2021 at 9:39 pm Congratulations, on the successful job planning, the relationship, and the tiring bundle of joy!
404_FoxNotFound* December 28, 2021 at 3:31 pm This was super lovely to hear, good job on seeing that risk coming and working to mitigate it, and congratulations on your new family addition LW!